Masquerade
by Monroe-Militia
Summary: Miles is keeping Charlie safe and hidden from Monroe in Philadelphia until he get can safely escape the republic with her. He warns her not to attend the militia's masquerade party, but she goes anyways and meets Nora. For the Femslash February prompt au: fairy tale.


Charlie was not supposed to be at this party. Miles had told her that it would be way too dangerous. He didn't want her leaving his quarters, let alone attending a party celebrating the anniversary of the Monroe Republic. The party would be crawling with militia, including high-ranking officers and Monroe himself. It wasn't safe.

Charlie understood that Miles didn't want Monroe finding out about her, but there was no way he could know who she was. Besides, it was a masquerade party. No one would be able to recognize her if they saw her afterwards. After the party, she would go back into hiding until Miles could find the opportunity to escape the militia and the republic with her. No one would wonder where she had gone. Besides, she had the perfect plan.

She arrived later than Miles and she would be sure to steer clear of areas he was in for the duration of the night, then she would slip out unnoticed before he left. That would give her time to ditch the stolen mask, get back into hiding, and change quickly before Miles could safely make it back to check on her.

She was just beginning to think that all of the effort she had put into sneaking out had not been worthwhile, since the party seemed to be filled with exclusively dull men who sought only to tell gruesome tales of their service to the republic in an attempt to impress her and each other, when a beautiful woman suddenly grabbed her by the arm and interrupted.

"There you are!" She said excitedly and Charlie got the sickening feeling that this woman was under the impression she was somebody else. It was probably a bad idea to play along and drag more attention to herself, but she let the other woman pull her away from the group of men anyways. "I've been looking for you all over! Let's go get that drink you promised me."

Once they were far enough away from the men, Charlie felt the need to speak up before the mistake went any further.

"Look, I don't know who you think I am, but-"

The woman stopped and turned to her, with her hand still resting gently on Charlie's arm just below the elbow, as she smiled and explained, "I have no idea who you are, but I would like to get to know you over a drink. I'm Nora by the way."

Charlie wanted to tell the woman her name too, but she could practically hear Miles in her head telling her how stupid she would have to be to give her real name. Yet, she couldn't quite bring herself to lie to Nora either. So instead she followed the woman to the bar silently and sat down beside Nora as she watched her order drinks for them both.

Charlie thanked Nora quietly and smiled over at her, feeling unusually nervous.

"You looked like you needed rescued from those guys," Nora told her with a friendly smile. "I know how boring and full of themselves they can be. Full of shit too. Last time I was at one of these parties, a guy spent half an hour telling me in detail how he had caught an outlaw against all odds."

"You didn't believe him?" Charlie questioned.

"No," the woman responded with a laugh. There was a twinkle in her eye as she leaned closer and added, "But maybe that's because I brought him in myself."

Charlie's heart was beating fast in her chest and she felt a pang of regret as Nora pulled away from her to lean back on her seat as if she could not be more at home.

"Did you tell him that?" She asked.

"Sure," Nora responded. "But not before I saw how far he was willing to take his story. I might have asked him a couple of tough questions just to stump him too."

Charlie's heart dropped as she heard the familiar grumble of Miles' voice talking to someone behind her. She hadn't been careful enough. She should have been keeping an eye on his location, even while learning about Nora.

His voice grew louder and if he came any closer he was going to recognize her. And if he was talking to Monroe, like he had been every time she had glanced his way so far during the night, Monroe might realize Miles knew her and start asking questions.

Charlie needed to hide her face without drawing attention to the fact that she was, so she sprung forwards in her seat and used both hands to pull Nora into a slightly frantic kiss as she listened for Miles to pass them by.

When the other woman returned the kiss with passion, Charlie let it drag on a little longer than may have been strictly necessary to prevent her uncle from noticing her.

If Nora was disappointed by how distracted Charlie was throughout the kiss, she didn't show it.

"So you're a party crasher, huh?" Nora must have noticed the look of alarm cross Charlie's features, since she added, "Don't worry I won't tell."

"How did you know?" Charlie asked.

Nora shrugged.

"It wasn't that difficult. You don't seem to really know anyone and I've never seen you at one of these parties before or around Independence Hall," she pointed out, then leaned closer until her lips were practically brushing against Charlie's ear. "Besides, I noticed you've been steering clear of Monroe and Matheson. That's why you kissed me right when they walked by."

So Nora had been watching her for longer than she had initially let on.

"That's one of the reasons," Charlie admitted. "But I also really wanted to kiss you."

"I'm glad you did," the other woman told her. "Even if neither of them would have cared that you crashed their party just to have a good time and flirt with me. I mean, that doesn't exactly make you a threat to the republic or to them."

That was easy for Nora to say. She didn't know that Charlie was more than just a stranger looking for a party. She was a Matheson, the last remaining one other than Miles, and she was supposed to be a secret.

"Can I ask you a question?" Charlie asked. She knew that it wasn't necessarily the safest choice, but there was something that she really wanted to know.

"Absolutely," Nora told her.

"Why are you in the militia?" Charlie asked and then immediately realized that the question had come out way too blunt. "I mean, if a bunch of guys are going to try to take credit for the people you bring in anyways, then why bother?"

That wasn't all that she had meant by it.

Apparently Nora knew that too. She shifted closer to Charlie, and dropped her voice as she responded, "Sure, I have my doubts about the good that the militia's doing. That I'm doing. But there are bad guys out there who need to be stopped."

Charlie knew that, but she also knew many of those men were inside the militia.

"At least with my position I get some choice. I only take the bounties on the heads of people I think deserve to be brought in," she insisted. "I like to think I'm doing some good. More than one person could do by themselves outside of the militia. But some days I wonder whether I made the right choice."

"Why are you being so honest with me?" Charlie asked in surprise.

"You asked me a question," Nora pointed out. "Besides, you're a party crasher avoiding the people in charge. You don't know anyone here to tell them what I said, even if they would believe you, and I have a feeling you asked because you don't agree with everything the militia does either."

"I won't tell if you don't," Charlie assured her.

"Why would I do anything to get you in trouble when you're the only interesting person at this whole party?" Nora asked her with a dazzling smile.

"Why do you come to the parties if you don't enjoy them?" Charlie asked.

Miles had also told her he had been dreading the party, but she understood why he had to go. He had to keep Monroe convinced that he was still his loyal best friend and co-general so that he wouldn't become suspicious. But what difference did it make if a bounty hunter missed out on one party?

"Sometimes they're fun," Nora admitted. "They used to be a lot more enjoyable before Monroe started getting paranoid. Now if you know him and don't show up, you have to wonder if he's going to question your loyalty."

Apparently Nora didn't have that different of a reason after all.

"Plus there's an open bar," Nora added with a grin.

Definitely not that different.

Charlie soon forgot all about keeping an eye on her uncle and Monroe as she became more and more distracted by Nora and forgot about everyone around them.

* * *

Oh no.

Charlie frantically scanned the sea of heads, desperately searching for her uncle's familiar form, but he was nowhere to be found. Miles was gone, but how long ago had he left?

Did he already know she was missing or was there still a chance for her to get back to his quarters before him?

"Are you alright?" Nora questioned as she reached to steady her.

Charlie should never have let herself get so distracted by this woman. Sure, this was the fastest she had fallen for anyone and she was glad to have met Nora. But they could have no future and now Charlie might have thrown away her own future, and Miles' too, all because she had let herself become infatuated with a total stranger to the point of losing all semblance of survival instincts.

Charlie slid her arms from the other woman's grasp and took a step away as she insisted, "I'm sorry. I need to go."

She rushed away without so much as a glance back.

"Wait!" Nora called after her, but Charlie did not have that luxury. She might already be too late.

She slipped and fell into the shoulder of one of the other party-goers as she rushed forwards in the uncomfortable heels. She had found the shoes in the back of a closet of things Miles' ex had left behind and she still wasn't entirely used to walking, let alone running, in them.

She steadied herself with a hand on the man's shoulder, but didn't have time to grab the other shoe from between the maze of party guest's legs, so she stumbled forward in one shoe as fast as she could.

* * *

 **A/N: Please read and review! This is the first of two or three chapters I'm hoping to get posted before February ends.**


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